


Love Bites

by Weltatlas



Category: Alex Verus Series - Benedict Jacka
Genre: Alternate Universe - Non-Magical, Alternate Universe - Vampire, Humor, M/M, Miscommunication, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-04
Updated: 2019-11-04
Packaged: 2021-01-22 21:21:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,992
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21308794
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Weltatlas/pseuds/Weltatlas
Summary: Alex had been looking for nothing but a distraction at the notoriousNosferatunight club and definitely hadn’t expected to find a new partner there. Surprisingly, their relationship is going great and everything could be perfect… if only there wasn’t this vampire thing.Because what the hell are you supposed to do when your boyfriend thinks he’s a vampire?
Relationships: Morden/Alex Verus, Mordex
Comments: 4
Kudos: 10





	Love Bites

**Author's Note:**

> This is just a short, fun idea I had on Halloween.
> 
> Warning for a brief mention of eating disorders.

It was a busy night at the _Nosferatu_, the club packed with partygoers dancing to the booming bass of the music, their silhouettes hazy in the dimmed light. Alex could already feel the headache coming. He wasn’t interested in dancing tonight and had made a beeline straight for the bar, ordering one horrendously over-priced drink after the other. Despite the joyous atmosphere around Alex’s mood was nothing but gloomy, as it had been ever since Anne had broken up with him. 

He didn’t blame her, of course, there was no denying that things hadn’t been going well for a while now. It had still come as a surprise to him when she had announced that she was moving out, and after he had helped to carry her things to the car, he hadn’t left the flat for days. Luna had been the one to finally convince him that wasting away alone was definitely not the healthiest way to deal with the situation – and so Alex had decided to use the arguably healthier coping mechanism of getting drunk and hooking-up with a stranger. 

He had been to the _Nosferatu_ only once years ago, his partner at the time had been more experimental and had dragged him to all kinds of scene clubs. This particular one stood out for its exaggerated security, the intimidating bouncers at the door demanded a password and ominously asked partygoers whether they _knew_, but miraculously Alex still remembered the correct answers. The other thing that made the _Nosferatu_ stand out was the rather narrow target group it catered to.

Alex had merely chosen it for its reputation of being a good place to find casual hook-ups at. But although he had received a couple of offers, he hadn’t been able to bring himself to accept them, as the thought of Anne was still weighing him down like the massive wooden coffin decoration behind the bar. He had already resigned himself to drinking alone for the rest of the night, when a smooth, cultured voice had instructed the barkeeper to transfer all of Alex’s purchases to his tab, and Alex’s complaint had died on his tongue the moment he saw the person who had spoken.

The vampire had introduced himself as Morden and after an invitation slid onto the stool next to him, flirting with an easy charm that soon had Alex blushing to the tips of his ears. Morden wasn’t actually a vampire, of course, none of the fancy dressed and unnaturally pale patrons were what they pretended to be. Before Alex had first been to _Nosferatu_, he wouldn’t have thought that there were enough people with a vampire kink to justify an entire club dedicated to it, but looking at how packed it was, he’d been very much in the wrong there.

It wasn’t necessarily a kink that Alex shared, but he’d never been one to oppose some biting in the bedroom, and looking at the guy next to him, the thought of it was definitely sexy. Morden even looked like the stereotypical vampire archetype – dark haired, pale, well-dressed and almost ridiculously handsome. The fake fangs that showed behind Morden’s lips when he talked looked quite sharp though, and they must have been horribly expensive; Alex couldn’t make out the border where they ended and his real teeth began.

“You do know what you are getting yourself into, don’t you?” Morden asked when Alex agreed to his suggestion of taking their conversation somewhere more private.

“Of course,” Alex smirked. “You may definitely suck my blood if you want to… and not only that.” 

Morden rolled his eyes as Alex winked, but did invite him to his home, and without thinking Alex accepted. Soon he found himself sitting flush against Morden in the backseat of a taxi, the other man’s hand stroking up and down his thigh, and his soft lips feeling strangely cold against his own. Alex was seriously questioning his sanity, how had he simply agreed to go home with this man? Drunkenly hooking-up with strangers wasn’t something he usually did, and while there certainly was a titillating thrill to it, he couldn’t help the feeling that he was cheating… 

_No_, he reminded himself forcefully, _Anne broke up with me. I can’t cheat, I’m single_. Trying to ban the surge of memories and emotions, Alex shut his eyes and pulled Morden close with a hand in his hair, kissing back even more intently than before.

Morden’s home turned out to be an impressively large penthouse at the top of an expensive looking apartment building. The furnishing was both modern and old-fashioned at the same time, seamlessly combining the two into an overall chic and tasteful look. However, Alex didn’t have a lot of time to admire it while they continued kissing on their way to the bedroom and removed articles of clothing were left discarded on the floor. 

Morden pushed Alex onto the orderly made bed and was promptly pulled down on the other. Soon he was kissing his way over Alex’s neck, nibbling and licking at the side of it in a way that made Alex shiver and grind up against the thigh between his legs. If this was the vampire thing, then it was definitely something he’d gladly put up with. 

“Are you truly sure you want this?” Morden asked, looking up in earnest question.

“Hell yes,” Alex moaned, he was terribly turned on already and desperately wanted to be touched properly. 

Morden gave a low chuckle. “Now aren’t you delicious,” he mused. “Tell me, what else do you want?”

“Fuck me,” Alex demanded, and Morden’s smile became even more hungry.

“Sure thing, let me just get something then… I’ll be right back.” 

Alex whined in disappointment when Morden got up and left the room; his heart was racing, and everything spun. He lay back onto the soft bed to alleviate the sudden dizziness, so far he hadn’t been aware of how very tired he was. Morden would be back soon, but if he could just rest his eyes for a moment…

~~~

Alex felt comfortably warm and cosy when he woke up and was about to roll over and doze off again, when he noticed that something was off. This wasn’t his bed. He opened his eyes and looked around, examining the unfamiliar room he found himself in. It appeared almost unsettlingly clean and unused, the only thing looking out of place were his clothes that someone had neatly stacked onto a chair. There also was a small package of painkillers next to a glass of water on the bedside table. Suddenly Alex’s memories of the last night returned. He groaned.

He had gone out to distract himself from his break-up, gotten drunk at that vampire club and then went home with one of them for a one-night stand – only to fall asleep basically as soon as his body hit the bed. Alex groaned again and hid his face behind his hands, this was so embarrassing. He was amazed that the other man had not only allowed him to sleep in his bed but also had tucked him in, surely he must have been angry when he’d found Alex like this. 

Ignoring his splitting headache Alex got up and slowly started to get dressed. After he’d gulped down the painkillers and made a quick venture into the bathroom, he felt ready to join his involuntary host in the kitchen. 

“Morning,” Alex mumbled, taking stock of the situation. Morden was sitting comfortably in the lightly dimmed kitchen, holding a wineglass filled with a dark red liquid.

“Good morning.” Morden smiled at him. “Did you sleep well?” 

“I did, thank you.”

Morden’s smile widened. “I am glad to hear that.” 

“Isn’t it a bit early to drink wine?” Alex threw a meaningful glance at the glass in Morden’s hand. 

“Oh, don’t worry. It’s not wine.”

“What is it then? Cherry juice?”

Morden snorted as if Alex had made a particularly bad joke and shook his head. “It’s blood, obviously.”

“...obviously.” Alex stared at Morden, waiting for him to indicate the jest he’d made. He didn’t. 

Morden cleared his throat. “Would you like some breakfast?” He inclined his head towards the only plate on the table, which held a pair of croissants, next to a collection of unopened jam jars. “I apologise, I did not know what you would like, but I hope that this will be satisfactory to you.”

“Yeah, uhm, it’s fine,” Alex said and clumsily took a seat. “Thank you… you really didn’t have to get me anything, you know.”

Morden waved his objections aside. “May I offer you some tea? Or coffee?”

“Coffee would be great,” Alex admitted. The croissants must have been freshly bought, they smelled absolutely delicious, and Alex tried to ignore the queasy feeling in his stomach as he carefully took the first bite. 

“Thanks,” Alex said when Morden sat down the cup in front of him. He pondered the jam selection; Morden couldn’t have actually bought all of those just now for him, right? Nah, he probably just didn’t have one open at the moment and therefore left Alex to select from his storage. He chose strawberry. 

Not wanting to inconvenience Morden again, Alex got up to get himself some milk. Upon opening the fridge however, he did not find anything like it, as the only thing it contained where medically looking plastic bags, filled with a red fluid. Confused Alex turned to look at Morden, who merely met his eyes calmly and slowly took a sip from his glass. Alex closed the fridge and decided to drink his coffee black.

Until now he’d thought that this vampire thing was nothing but a kink, but this level of dedication definitely went above that. Rich people were just weird, Alex mused, but so far this one had been really nice and forthcoming, so he wouldn’t complain about his strange habits. And besides, he was the one who had fallen asleep on his one-night stand. He blushed, the fact that Morden didn’t look any less attractive in the morning didn’t improve the situation one bit.

“I want to apologise,” Alex began hesitantly. “This really isn’t something I usually do; I barely ever drink at all and don’t hook-up a lot either… I’m really sorry I fell asleep like that.”

“Please, it’s not an issue,” Morden said charitably. “I don’t usually take people home either.”

“Still, I’m sorry. Let me make it up to you? We could give it another shot sometime, if you’re up. Or you could let me take you out for dinner first,” Alex suggested half-jokingly, half-serious. “I promise I won’t fall asleep on you again.”

Morden chuckled quietly. “Sure, I don’t see why not.”

~~~

“I prepared some dinner, it’s just pasta, but you can’t do any wrong with that, right?” Alex said after he had greeted Morden at the door of his humble flat with a shy kiss on the cheek. They had been dating for a couple of weeks now, and despite his initial reservations Alex found himself more and more enamoured with the attractive, charming and yet undeniably _strange_ man.

“It looks marvellous, my dear – please, do enjoy,” Morden said with a warm smile as he sat down at the table.

“Would you like some too?” Alex offered, a little confused that Morden hadn’t made any move to take part in the meal. “There isn’t any garlic in it, I promise.” He still remembered the odd incidence where Morden had refused to kiss him after he’d eaten it, claiming to have some sort of rare allergy.

“That’s quite lovely, but no, thank you.” Morden’s smile didn’t break as filled his glass with the mysterious red liquid that he poured from a flask. 

Alex frowned. “Come on, you have to eat something too.”

“I am.” Morden raised his glass.

“No, you’re not; you’re just drinking. I mean eating real food. Don’t you have to eat real food?”

“No, I don’t,” Morden said patiently. “I am flattered by your offer, and your creation does look scrumptious, but I’m afraid that food simply doesn’t taste like anything but ash to me, no matter how delicious.”

“Oh… wait, is this… does this have something to do with an eating disorder or so?” Alex asked carefully, suddenly realising that he had never seen Morden eat anything at all. “Is there something I could do to help?”

“No, no, don’t worry. Your concern is kind, but entirely misplaced,” Morden assured. “I am perfectly fine, there is no need for you to fret. Please, enjoy your meal.”

~~~

Months of having to pay the rent alone had taken a toll on Alex’s finances, and so it hadn’t been hard to accept Morden’s offer to move into his luxurious penthouse. At first Alex had been worried, because he knew he wouldn’t be able to share the price of it, but Morden had quickly assured him that such a thing wouldn’t be necessary anyways, given that he’d owned the penthouse ‘_for at least sixty years now_’. A ridiculous overstatement, of course, as Morden clearly didn’t look a day over thirty.

“Why don’t you ever take the fangs out?” Alex asked. They were standing in front of the mirror, brushing their teeth together in preparation of going to bed.

“What?” Morden looked confused.

“I mean… it can’t be very hygienic to always keep them in, right?”

“Do you ever take out your teeth to clean them?” Morden asked with amusement in his voice.

“No, but those aren’t…” Alex took a deep breath. “They’re not your real teeth, are they?” 

Morden chuckled. “What a silly question. Of course these are my real teeth.”

Alex stared at Morden’s reflection in the mirror, suddenly at a loss of words. What was he supposed to say against that?

“Alright,” he concluded, deciding to put a pause on that conversation for now.

~~~

“Oh everything is going great, really… if only there wasn’t this vampire thing,” Alex said. It was an especially slow day at the shop, and so he and Luna were talking behind the sales counter.

Luna raised an eyebrow. “This vampire thing?”

“Yeah… we met at the _Nosferatu_, and so I thought that it was just a kink thing and really didn’t mind it at first,” he explained, and Luna giggled. “But now I think he actually has a problem… It’s not a kink, he just really thinks he’s a vampire. He genuinely thinks that. What the hell do you do when your boyfriend has a delusion like that?”

“Are you sure he _really_ thinks that?” Luna asked sceptically.

“Yes, I’m sure. Like, he refuses to go out whenever it’s sunny. He claims that it’s painful to him, but I’m really worried; it can’t be healthy to never go in the sun, right?”

“Maybe he supplements vitamin D?” Luna suggested.

“Maybe, but that can’t be sufficient. And I don’t think he eats enough; I’ve never seen him eat at all. He just always drinks that red stuff he claims is blood, but that’s bogus, obviously.”

“Hmm, you’re right, that’s really worrying,” Luna admitted. “Maybe he hides food somewhere and eats whenever you’re not there?”

“He has to, I don’t think he lost any weight since I’ve known him, but so far I haven’t found a stash or anything like that.”

“…does he sleep in a coffin?”

“This isn’t funny!” Alex called. “No, he doesn’t… I’ve never seen him sleep, actually. He pretends to go to bed with me, but whenever I wake up, he’s up too.”

Luna frowned. “Maybe he actually is a vampire, then?”

“Luna, please!” There was a hint of desperation in Alex’s voice. “I used to think that it’s funny too, but this delusion is seriously affecting his life. I’m really worried, and I just don’t know what to do.”

“You could talk to him about it? You probably shouldn’t try to tackle that issue on your own, but maybe you can convince him to see a therapist?”

“Yes, that sounds like a good idea.” Alex smiled. “Thank you, Luna.”

~~~

“Morden?” Alex asked, hovering hesitantly in the door to the living room. “Can we talk?”

Morden looked up from his book and smiled at him. “Of course, darling. What is it?”

“It’s… it’s about the vampire thing,” Alex said quietly, taking a seat on his favourite sofa.

“What about it?” Morden asked and leaned back comfortably in his armchair.

Alex took a deep breath. “Please don’t take this wrong, it’s not a deal breaker for me, really not… but it is becoming a problem.”

Morden tilted his head. “Hmm, I wouldn’t say so, no. I’m fairly at peace with it.”

“That’s not the issue, the point is that this delusion is very much restricting your life,” Alex explained.

“What delusion are you talking about, my dear?” 

“Well… you think you’re a vampire.”

Morden flashed his fangs with a smile. “I am a vampire.”

“See!” Alex exclaimed. “That’s exactly what I mean!”

“If that’s it, then I don’t see how it’s a problem.”

“You don’t…” Alex took a moment to ground himself. “Look, I don’t want to be rude, but it’s a problem because it’s not true. Vampires aren’t real.”

“Of course they are real.” Morden sounded amused. “I should know, I am one, after all.”

Alex huffed. “Yes, and I’m a werewolf,” he gave back sarcastically.

Morden’s face dropped. “Do not joke about that, Alexander,” he said, suddenly serious. “That’s offensive.”

~~~

“Well then, Mr Morden, why don’t you tell me in your own words why you are here?” the therapist asked with a smile that was supposed to be encouraging.

“I’m here because my boyfriend thought it would be a good idea,” Morden said. He felt horribly out of place in the brightly coloured office, the suggested friendliness and comfort of the furnishing was almost offensive to his personal tastes. He truly didn’t know what Alex was expecting from this, but his darling had been nagging him for a while now, and so Morden had finally agreed to humour him.

“Are there any problems in the relationship?”

“No, not at all,” Morden replied. “Our relationship is great, I haven’t felt like this about anyone in eons… there’s just this one thing he doesn’t believe me about, no matter how often I tell him. He thinks I’m delusional, which is a little hurtful, I won’t lie. At this point I simply do not know how to convince him. I could show him, of course… but that would be highly unethical, after all he cannot give proper consent if he doesn’t understand the seriousness. And it might be quite sentimental of me, but I truly don’t want to scare this one away.”

The therapist nodded empathically. “Interesting. Please, tell me more.”

~~~

Alex was in shock. He was shaking and staggered along mindlessly as Morden guided him to the elevator. The evening had started out nicely enough, he’d enjoyed a delightful pizza dinner with his friends and afterwards decided to walk home through the warm night. This had turned out to be a mistake.

He hadn’t been far from the apartment building when something had pulled him into a dark alleyway, and he suddenly found himself confronted by two thugs of outstanding height and muscle mass. Generally Alex wasn’t someone to be underestimated in hand-to-hand combat, but these two seemed to possess an outright supernatural strength that soon had Alex relay his only hopes in calling for help. They didn’t want his money, nor the expensive watch Morden had gotten him for his birthday, and instead talked about a Council and a Concord and other things that Alex didn’t understand.

They got more and more aggressive when Alex was unable to answer their questions about what his ‘owner’ was planning, and Alex cried out when one of them painfully grabbed him around the neck and slammed him into a wall. He’d been chocking, his vision turning black as he struggled to breathe, when the pressure suddenly disappeared and he dropped to the ground, gasping for air.

Looking up he saw that Morden had come to his help and was now fighting the attackers, moving supernaturally fast and blocking their staggering punches without any problems. The fight ended when Morden ripped out one of the men’s throats with his bare hands and then buried his teeth in the other one’s neck, draining his blood. Afterwards he had crouched down in front of Alex, talking to him soothingly until he allowed himself to be pulled up and lead out of the alley.

The elevator _pinged_ when it reached the top floor, and Alex followed dazedly as Morden guided him through their penthouse. He sat him down on the sofa, wrapped a soft blanked around his shoulders and went to make tea.

“You are a vampire,” Alex said tonelessly after he accepted the cup. 

“Yes,” Morden confirmed and sat down next to him. 

“You’re actually a vampire.”

“Yes.”

“Oh my god, I can’t believe it…” Alex hid his face in his hands. “This is real. This is actually real.”

“Yes, it is,” Morden said, not without sympathy. 

“Oh my god, everything is real,” Alex repeated. “You’re actually a vampire… you really don’t eat or sleep… and when I asked you how old you were and you said about 400 years, that was true too, right?” He peered up at Morden. 

“Yes.” Morden nodded. “I am sorry.”

Alex took a deep breath. “Don’t be; you told me from the beginning. I… I’m sorry I didn’t believe you.”

“That’s alright. I understand that this is a difficult thing to accept.” 

“Still, I’m sorry.”

Morden squeezed his hand. “Your apology is accepted.”

Alex thought in silence for a while. “At the _Nosferatu_… all those people are real vampires too?” he asked eventually.

“Not all, but some of them are, yes,” Morden said. “Vampires and humans looking for such. Usually only insiders are allowed inside, which is why I thought you already knew. We can count ourselves fortunate that you fell asleep that night.” He smiled at him, and Alex answered it weakly.

“So you drink blood?” Alex asked carefully.

“Yes.”

“Do you… want to drink my blood?”

Morden regarded Alex silently for a moment. “Yes,” he answered eventually. “You smell delicious.”

Alex swallowed. “Then why haven’t you done that yet?”

Morden gently took Alex’s hands in his and looked at him intently. “Do not worry, Alexander. I would never take your blood against your will.”

“And what if it’s not?” 

“What do you mean?”

“What if it’s not against my will?” Alex nervously licked his lips. “What if I want you to drink my blood? Would you bite me then?”

Morden exhaled deeply. “If you were absolutely certain about it, then I wouldn’t see why not.”

Alex nodded. “Well then, I’m certain,” he said decisively. “I want you to drink my blood.”

“Alex, this is no decision to be made on the fly,” Morden said gravely.

“Why, would it turn me into a vampire too?”

“No, of course not.”

Alex shrugged. “Then I don’t see the issue with it.”

Morden sighed. “Darling, you suffered a horribly nasty shock just a few minutes ago. How about we leave this topic for now and talk about it later?”

“Alright,” Alex ceded and exhaustedly leaned against his side. “Thank you so much for the rescue, by the way.”

“Of course.” Morden wrapped an arm around Alex and gently pressed a kiss onto his hair.

~~~

Alex was squirming under Morden on the bed, clawing his hands into the other’s back as he was being pinned down and passionately kissed.

Morden sat up for a moment. “Are you sure about this?” he asked.

“Hell yes, just fucking do it already!” Alex edged him on. 

“Language,” Morden chided, but finally lowered his mouth to Alex’s neck, kissing, nibbling and licking at the vein. Alex shuddered and threw his head back, unable to keep in the loud moan when Morden’s fangs pierced his skin.


End file.
